Civil society: a revived mantra in the development discourse

There is an assumption that the inclusion of civil society in governance processes promotes democratic performance and contributes to ‘good governance’, in the sense of pluralism, accountability and transparency. This paper refers to the governance process of the water utility in Accra involving the private sector, and examines the validity of the assumed roles regarding the inclusion of civil society in the governance process. For the purposes of this study, civil society is defined as ‘non-state and non-market organisations that can, or have the potential to, champion democratic governance reforms and act as agents for political and socio-economic change’. Contrary to assumptions made about the inclusion of civil society, the analysis herein shows that the inclusion of civil groups in the governance process of the water utility led to hostile and undemocratic processes and to weak indicators of ‘good governance'. The main concern of the key actors was centred on how to build consensus around the privatisation programme of the water utility. ‘Managing consensus’, however, is an inappropriate planning measure. It is argued here that the focus should rather be on how to design governance structures and arrangements, mobilised by legitimate and committed political leadership, to build and enhance the capacity of governance processes.

Most popular related searches

Related articles

Drinking water treatment in North America has stringent requirements for effluent water quality, with a great amount of attention being drawn to the presence of hazardous disinfection by-products (DBPs) persisting through water distribution systems. The operation of water treatment plants involves addition of various mixing agents to help with coagulation and settling of organics in the raw water supply, as well as the addition of chlorine for final disinfection.
Optimizing water treatment to reduce the risk of...

Energy costs for water utilities are large, and growing
Energy is a significant cost for many water utilities, and costs are growing as more energy-intensive forms of water supply, including desalination, are being used. Energy is typically the second-largest utility budget item in developed countries, after labour. In many developing countries, energy can account for 70% or even more, of annual costs. But water and wastewater utilities can generate and export energy – in multiple forms.
Water utilities...

Material Source:Excavation and trenching waste from the utilities industries.
Equipment Installed:Powerscreen Commander 1400 Feeder, Powerscreen Aggwash, DUO Mobile Water Treatment System (inc. centrifuge, clarified water tank, sludge tank and low-level thickener.
Project Requirements:Complete Utilities required a washing and water treatment solution for processing their utilities spoil which, once processed, is used to backfill. The site of the installation presented both height and space restrictions due to...

This study applies econometric tools to examine the economies of scale of the water and sewage utilities corporation (utilities) in the urban sector in Israel, and to find whether reducing the number of utilities will maximize efficiency in the urban water sector. Using an econometric analysis of an elasticity Translog cost function, which allows the estimation of returns to scale, the authors examined the optimal size for water and sewage utilities in Israel, based on panel data of 51 utilities. According to the...

Water utilities (WU) have to deal with different challenges including ageing infrastructures, demand variability, climate change and increased societal expectations. This paper aims at outlining potential synergies between communication promotion and the implementation of a structured approach to enhance water loss and energy management in WU. The use of a structured approach in the decision-making process leverages knowledge production from various stakeholders, enabling them to propose solutions for the challenge...

Customer comments

No comments were found for Civil society: a revived mantra in the development discourse. Be the first to comment!

Add your comment

Great! comment successfully added!

Contact

Your message:

Your email

Your first name

Your last name

I would like to receive periodic email updates and special offers from select suppliers.